hair loss

We love to joke about the cost of beauty but we shouldn’t need a bottle of aspirin just to get through the day because of a tight headband. You CAN achieve a cute high puff without the pain and the damage to our natural hair that may come with it. Here’s how!

Keeping our edges under control is an issue for many of us whether we have natural hair, relaxed hair or are somewhere in the middle. Our hairline is super delicate so we definitely need to handle with care.

Our resident natural hair care professional Simeko Watkins-Hartley answers… “My hair seems to be thinning, can you help?” Although hair loss is a normal process that we all will experience at some point in our lives, excessive hair loss, much like excessive hair shedding (see this post for more details) can be caused by a number of different factors and recommendations would depend on the underlying cause. However, keeping your scalp/hair clean and well-nourished with natural oils can be helpful start. Another very important factor is getting your daily intake of vitamins. To get a better idea of how vitamins can help with preventing hair loss, here’s a breakdown: Vitamin A– Aids in stimulating the follicle and making healthy sebum in the scalp Vitamin Bs– Aids in stimulating hair growth. Also may help to reduce stress which may cause hair loss Vitamin C– An anti-oxidant that helps to maintain healthy hair Vitamin D– Plays an important role in the hair growth cycle and can help reduce hair loss Vitamin E– Helps to improve scalp circulation Biotin– Helps to thicken the hair strand Folic Acid– Aids in cell renewal to grow hair Iron– Carries oxygen to the hair follicle which promotes growth Zinc– Helps with cell renewal which is necessary for hair growth If you are still experiencing excessive hair loss after taking vitamins for at least 90-120 days (this is generally the amount of time it takes for blood cell renewal), you may want to pay your doctor a visit to make sure there are no major issues internally. Naturally Yours, Simeko Watkins-Hartley Owner & Creative Director of Meko, New York Natural Hair Care Spa & Boutique Disclaimer: This information serves as a guide to inform, inspire and encourage women, like myself, to regain and maintain their healthiest hair possible. Do you take vitamins to aid in healthy hair growth? What…

The point of a protective style is to maintain the health of your hair. How healthy do you think it’ll be with constant stress put on your edges or other parts of your hair if that style is done too tight? You’ve seen it: your girlfriend comes skipping out of the braid shop with a fresh set of box braids or cornrows that look AMAZING! You go to take a closer look and she winces “no, no… don’t touch!” Upon further investigation, you can tell that your buddy has just gone through a face lift via super tightly braided baby hair. *sigh* Hold on, maybe this “friend” was actually YOU! *gasp* “Neat” ≠ tight ladies and gentlemen! But wait, I’m not just talkin’ braids! I mean weaves too… sew-ins to be exact. Think about it: your stylist wants to make sure your Remy lays nice and flat so she may give you a nice set of cornrows throughout your head. NEWSFLASH! If those cornrows are tight, guess what that weave sewn onto them is gonna do? That’s right chicas, it’ll make it even tighter, pulling and tugging on those bad boys resulting in a little gift in the form of a throbbing headache. But you look cute though… that’s all that matters, right?! {insert blank stare here} All that “beauty is pain” stuff is for the birds. You can’t even blink without getting chills! LOL! Look, I’m just tryna help. You don’t wanna end up like this… dun dun dunnnnnnnnn!!! YIKES! Traction alopecia {a form of gradual hair loss which is caused primarily by a pulling force being applied to the hair} is no joke! Listen, for the love of all that is healthy and lush, save those edges! Make sure your stylist understands that they SHOULD NOT braid every single hair that lay…